Can Play Therapy Help My Child?

Most children experience some difficulties in their childhood, such as divorce of their parents, trouble making friends, or adjusting to changes at school or home. Some children need more help than others to get through these times.

Play Therapy Melbourne can assist your child with many issues, including:

Personal

Excessive anger, fear, sadness, worry and shyness

Grief and loss

Anger management and aggressive behaviours

Oppositional and acting out behaviours

Self-esteem and self-identity issues

School difficulties

Migration

Adjustment to life events

Mental Health

Anxiety and stress related disorders

Separation anxiety

Depression

Selective mutism

Gender identity concerns

Health Related

Chronic illness, hospitalisations and surgery

Sleeping and eating difficulties

Bed-wetting and faecal incompetence

Physical symptoms without any medical cause

Relationships

Divorce and family breakdown

Making friends / Social difficulties

Bonding and attachment issues

Adoption and fostering issues

Trauma / Harm

Physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect

Trauma, including past traumas

Prenatal and birth trauma

Problems of a Biological Nature

Although play therapy can not ‘cure’ problems of a biological nature such as attention deficit and autism spectrum disorders, it can successfully be utilised as a highly effective intervention before diagnosis, for example, to rule out or determine if the child’s symptoms are transient, due to adjustment problems, emotional issues, or developmental delays. For children who have a diagnosis of a neurological or biological disorder, play therapy can help address the emotional issues that often occur in conjunction with these disorders making behaviours more extreme.

In this vein, Play Therapy Melbourne can help with concurrent emotional issues of: